Friday, June 16

Laughter a recipe for life

From the outset the Malawi Support Meetings have always begun with a reflection.
This can be any religious text, philosophical musing, prayer or perspective given
by members volunteering from a previous meeting.

This perspective from the archives long ago at the time we found to be both
inspirational but also (from my perspective) somewhat simplistic. Even so for
the most part I think laughter and a positive attitude can be a good recipe for
life.

This reflection was entitled: you have 2 choices: and took the form of a
story:
James is the manager of a restaurant, who was invariably always in a good mood.
Asked how he was doing, he would reply,
"If I were any better, I would be twins!" Waiters at his restaurant
quit their jobs when he changed jobs, to follow him from restaurant to
restaurant.
Why? Because James was a motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, James told
the employee how to look on the positive side. Seeing this style really made me
curious, so I asked him.
"I don't get it! No one can be a positive all the time. How do you do it?"
James replied, "Each morning I say to myself, I have two choices. I can
choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood.

I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can
choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn
from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept
their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose
the positive side of life."
"But it's not always that easy, I protested."
"Yes it is," James said. "Life is all about choices. When you
cut away all the junk every situation is a choice."
You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how people will affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.
It's your choice how you live your life.

Several years later, I heard that James accidentally left the back door of his
restaurant open and was robbed in the early morning by three armed men.
While James was trying to open the safe box, his hand, shaking from
nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.
Luckily, James was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, James was released from
the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw James about
six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be
twins. Want to see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as
the robbery took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked
the back door," James replied. "Then, after they shot me, as I lay on
the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or could
choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared I asked?"
James continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was
going to be fine.”
But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on
the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.
In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man.'
I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a nurse asking questions at me," said James.
"She asked if I was allergic to anything."
'Yes,' I replied.
The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.
I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!'
Over their laughter, I told them,
'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'.
"James lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his
amazing attitude."

I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life
or to hate it. The only thing that is truly yours -- that no one can control or
take from you- is your attitude, so if you can take care of that, everything
else in life becomes much easier.

About Me

I have worked in the roles as Company Secretary or Divisional financial executive with larger Australian based multinational companies before changing careers in favour of sales and marketing for the latter 12 years of business life.
My particular interests include corporate social responsibility, ethics and research into more sustainable business practices.
I am a fellow of CPA Australia and an Associate member of the Governance Institute of Australia which was previously called the Chartered Secretaries Australia. I am chairman of the Malawi Support group who are a small group of catholic parishioners who raise funds to support a sister parish in Malawi.